


The Proposal

by heretowriteshit



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Mild Language, The Proposal AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-11
Updated: 2018-05-14
Packaged: 2019-05-05 12:21:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14618448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heretowriteshit/pseuds/heretowriteshit
Summary: She is his boss.He is her assistant. (Executive assistant if you ask her but he doesn't understand the difference)His job sucks. His boss is a demon but also somehow his fiancée.





	1. The Demon.

**Author's Note:**

> For the sake of this Alternate Universe fic, please remember that Tessa is not Canadian. Yeah, I know it's kinda weird but please bear with me. 
> 
> This is basically that romcom "The Proposal" AU.
> 
> All of the mistakes are mine, by the way.

Scott begins to stir, knowing that his alarm is going to go off in five minutes. It has become a habit of his to wake up before his alarm blare some loud music. He reaches out to grab his phone on his bedside table and realizes that today is Monday which is basically hell. He groans in frustration because today is the day his boss is coming back from a book fair in Switzerland. “Fuck,” Scott mutters before let his head sinks back into the pillow. He closes his eyes for awhile and he finally manages to drag himself out of his bed.

At some point in his career, this job is the one that he hates the most. It sucks and he doesn’t even know why he stays for almost four fucking years. Long hours without reward (well, there is a reward but… you know) and he can’t even go home to celebrate his parents’ anniversary or his niece’s 7th birthday. The reason he didn’t go with her to Switzerland is that he was sick and couldn’t even leave his bed.

An hour and a half later, he is standing in a line to order his and his boss morning coffee. He keeps taping his foot, checking his watch for every fifteen seconds because he is almost late. He doesn’t know that the line will be this long but maybe it is his charm that works too well, the barista calls out his name to give him two cups of coffee. Scott is a bit surprised but in this situation, he will never turn down any helps that come from God.

“Here you go, Scott.” She smiles shyly while giving him his cups.

Scott? She knows his name? How?

“Thank you,” Scott pauses for a second to take a look at her name tag right above her right breast. “Jessica. How did you know, anyway?” He frowns.

“A week ago we had a little conversation, remember? And you’re here like every morning,” the girl replies with a shrug, the same smile is still there on her face. “Let’s just say that you are my favorite customer.”

Ah, right. It was literally a little conversation because it was just him ordering his and his boss’ regular coffee. He should remember her name from now on.

“I definitely remember now and you literally saved my life! Thank you!” Scott replies while sliding a $20 across the counter. “Don’t worry about the change because I’m pretty sure I owe you my life on the silver platter my boss would have chopped me up and served me on.” and smiles towards the Barista-he-just-remember-her-name before bolting back towards the door and continue her sprint down the street, carefully balancing his drinks in hand.

He considers it a small success when he makes it into the elevator both on time and had not spilled a drop. He smiles and says a quick hello to the people up the elevator and lets out a loud, winded breath. Before he can even process what has happened, one of the drinks he had been holding onto like a lifeline comes crashing into his chest as he bumps straight into the mail clerk—Mr. Wilson—and his cart.

“MOTHERFUCKER NO. OH GOD NO. NOT TODAY SATAN.” Scott screams at the top of his lungs.

“Oh son, I’m so sorry.” He can hear the old man saying sorry for a few times, it makes him guilty to scream right in front of him. Scott closes his eyes, taking a deep breath and let it out.

His white shirt is soaking wet, covered with ugly coffee stain and the problem is in a minute his boss will step out from the elevator any minute.

Scott tosses the empty cup to the trashcan and bolts to Patrick’s table.

“Patrick, take off your shirt now.” He huffs and makes it clear that Patrick can hear his frustration and anger.

“Man, I love you but… are you fucking kidding me?” Patrick tears his gaze from his computer screen to take a look at Scott who is standing right beside him.

Scott rolls his eyes and Patrick afraid that they won’t get back to normal. “Do I look like I’m kidding? Okay then, two tickets for Leafs game next week and you have five seconds to decide.”

“Deal!” without any hesitations, Patrick stands up and begins to take off his shirt.

 

***

 

Tessa walks toward her office while typing an email on her phone and fortunately she doesn’t pay attention to her surrounding because her employees are busy pretending to do their job and sometimes taking a glance at her.

“Why she has to come back?” Kaetlyn whispers to her co-worker, Gabby when Tessa is finally out of earshot. “God bless Scott and his patience” is all that Gabby can say. They turn their head to Scott who is standing in front of Tessa’s office with a cup of coffee on his right hand and a definitely fake smile on his handsome face.

Tessa enters her office, walking straight her way, her hand holds out for her coffee. “Morning, Boss,” Scott says calmly while handing her coffee. “You have a meeting with Marie-France at 08:30 AM and Gabriella Papadakis called to confirm the publishing date of _Memories of My Dreams_ is still set for July 10 th.”

“Gabriella…” Tessa let out a sigh and Scott has to bite his tongue to prevent laugh. He knows why his boss doesn’t like her because he also feels the same way. “Tell her to come here because some chapters of her work are a disaster and need some fixing.” She continues, grabbing a manuscript on her table after taking a seat.

“Okay.” Scott nods and ready to leave her office with a pile of papers on his hands. “Oh, your immigrant lawyer called. He said it’s imperative...”

“Keep the lawyer on the sheets and push the meeting to tomorrow because I still need to do something else that more important,” Scott hasn’t even finished his sentence yet and Tessa is already cutting him off without looking at him. “Oh, and get a hold of PR, have them start drafting a press release. Patrice is doing Oprah.”

Scott raises his eyebrows slightly and a small smile grows on his face. “Wow. Nicely done.”

“If I want your praise, I will ask for it.” Tessa let out a huff before taking a sip out of her coffee. She notices something on her—it’s technically his—cup and holds it up at eye level to inspect it. “Scott,” she frowns a bit but still looking at the writing on the cup. “Who, uh, who is Jessica and why does she want me to call her?”

_Shit. Why did Jessica on all days, have to write her fucking number on the side of his cup?_

“That was originally my cup.” He finally confessed.

“And I’m drinking your coffee, why?” Scott notices that she quirks her eyebrow. His fingers can’t stop fidgeting the papers in his hands.

“I bumped straight into Mr. Wilson and your coffee spilled.”

She nods before taking a sip from the cup. “So, you drink almond milk cappuccino? Is it coincidence?”

“Yeah absolutely, I wouldn’t possibly drink the same coffee that you drink just in case I spilled yours, that would be-” and now he is interrupted by the phone that starts ringing. Scott walks toward it to answer whoever calls this early. “-pathetic. Good morning, Ms. Virtue’s office. Oh, Meryl?” Scott is a little bit confused so he glances to Tessa, hoping that she will give him a pointer. His boss just gives him a sign that they are going to Meryl’s office momentarily. “Yeah, we are actually headed to your office.”

Scott watches Tessa picking up her coffee off her desk and he realizes his cue to open the door for her before following her closely behind.

“Tessa,” he whispers, trying to get her attention in this confusing situation. He doesn’t have any ideas why they are going to Meryl’s office but he is not interested to ask about it now. “Have you finished the manuscript I gave you before you went to Switzerland? It was amazing, right? You like that kind of novel.”

“I have but it wasn’t that impressive.”

_What did she just say?_

“Tessa, are you serious? I’ve read a lot of manuscripts and the one I gave you was such an amazing work.” Scott is now standing right beside her, still can’t believe that she doesn’t like it. Tessa just shrugs her shoulder when they pass Patrick’s cubicle and she notices the ugly stain on his shirt.

“I’m deadly serious and Scott, I do think you order the same coffee as I do just in case you spill, which is, in fact, pathetic.” Tessa glances at the dark-haired man beside her with a raised brow and a slight smirk.

“Or impressive,” Scott mutters another option.

“I would be impressed if you didn’t spill mine in the first place. Now remember, you're just a prop in here.”

“Relax, I won’t say anything,” Scott replies while pushing the glass door of Meryl’s office and let Tessa step into the room first.

“Ah! Our fearless leader and her liege. Please, do come in.” Scott snaps his head to look at Meryl’s annoyance expression. Tessa notices that Scott is glaring at the woman in front of her and she relaxes immediately, knowing that she has someone on her back.

“Morning, Meryl,” Tessa greets her while walking closer to her desk. “Is it new?”

“Yes, it was boring before and I decided to do a couple touches.” Meryl looks unimpressed with their little talk.

“Ah, you didn’t have to do that,” Tessa sits down on the edge of Meryl’s desk while crossing her arms in front of her chest. “Because I’m letting you go.”

A deafening silence begins.

“I’m sorry, what?” Meryl finally breaks the silence after a couple of seconds.

“I asked you over a dozen times to get Patrice to do Ellen, and you didn't do it.” Tessa strolls back to stand beside Scott who is currently closing the door of Meryl’s office and keeping his mouth to stay close.

“I told you it was impossible.” Meryl’s voice is getting defensive.

“Well, that is interesting because I just got off the phone with him and he is in. You didn’t even call him, right?”

It is crystal clear that Meryl’s face turns to red as tomato real quick.

“Now, I will give you two months to find another job and you can tell everyone you resigned, okay?” With that, she takes off out of the office and doesn’t even bother to wait for Meryl’s answer.

“What is she doing?” Tessa asks Scott once they are outside Meryl’s office.

“She is moving and has those crazy eyes.” Scott has to look back while answering Tessa’s question.

“Don’t do it, Meryl.” Tessa murmurs to herself and secretly prays to God that somehow he might hear her but it is too late because Meryl bursts out off her office and points her finger towards her and starts yelling.

“YOU NASTY, POISONOUS, HEARTLESS, BITCH!”

Tessa stops in the middle of her way back to her own office and turns around to face an angry Meryl. Scott hears a loud gasp and he sees that all of the employees immediately stop their movement to watch the scene in front of them.

“You don't think I see what you're doing here? You are threatened by me!”

“Meryl, stop.” Tessa closes her eyes for a second and her lips form a flat tight line.

“Just because you have no semblance of a life outside of this office doesn’t mean you can treat all of us like your personal slaves. Tessa, you are a monster,” Meryl’s take a quick break to breathe. “You know what? I feel sorry for you because guess what you're going to have on your deathbed? Nothing and no one.”

Tessa reminds calm, she just taking a deep breath while slowly walking closer to Meryl. “Meryl, listen carefully. I didn't fire you because I feel threatened. No. I fired you because you are lazy and incompetent. You spent more time cheating on your fiancé with your driver than you do in this office. If you say another word, Scott is going to call the security of this building to escort you and he over here will record everything with his iPhone then put it on YouTube. The next thing you know, your life is over.”

She turns on her heels and continues walking down the hallway towards Marie-France’s office.

“Scott, I need you around this weekend to review and read her manuscript.” After a long pause, he remembers that he has to be home this weekend for his mom’s birthday. “Scott, are you still listening?” Tessa tries again to gain his attention.

“I was going to fly home for my mom’s birthday.” He says quietly, hoping that his boss will understand but she doesn’t respond. Instead, she tells him to get her out of Marie-France’s office with a fake urgent call and before he can say anything she disappears behind the door.

 

***

 

Scott uses his ten minutes break to call his older brother, Danny that he can’t go home this weekend because he needs to work and like a usual, his brother tells him to quit.

“Scott, are you fucking kidding me? Mom is expecting you to come home; she wants his baby boy back.” Scott feels really bad right now; he made a promise to his mom last Christmas to be back for her birthday.

“I know, Dan. She is making me work and I have worked hard for this promotion to throw it all away.” Scott let out a long sigh while rubbing his forehead.

“You know what? You told me that she is like a demon but you still there and it makes me wonder that the reason you stay is because Tessa is hot as fuck.”

Scott snorts before taking a glance at his watch around his left wrist. His free time is almost done. “I hate this job, Dan and you have to trust me. Anyway, I have to save the demon’s ass.”

“Take care of yourself, Scott.”

“Okay. Just tell mom that I’m really sorry.” With that, he hangs up the phone and runs to Marie-France’s office. He knocks lightly before pushing the door open and he is greeted with a _very_ tense situation.

“I have received a letter from immigration. It states that you're being deported." Tessa freezes in place. "I beg your pardon?" Tessa asks. She thinks she might still be smiling, but she is not sure.

This is not about him but his reaction is pretty much the same with Tessa’s. If Tessa were kicked out of this country, he had to say goodbye to his promotion. His family will be disappointed and it is the last thing on his to-do-list.  
  
"Your visa has expired," Marie-France says. There are regret and disappointment in her voice. Tessa hates to disappoint people. “And you went to Switzerland while your visa application was being processed. It takes a year to resubmit your application and you can’t stay here in Vancouver.

Tessa let out a nervous chuckle. “Oh great, I can work from Los Angeles then.”

Marie-France closes her eyes and then covering her face with her palms before telling her that she can’t work for a Canada company if she is deported.

A deafening silence begins again for the second time today.

Scott, like a knight in shining armor, decides to breaks the silence and makes an attempt to save Tessa just like she has requested ten minutes ago.

“Excuse me. I’m so sorry for interrupting but Ms. Virtue, it’s Meryl on the line and-“ Scott pauses when he notices that Tessa is staring at him. It makes him wonder if there is something on his face or teeth. He watches that Tessa is mouthing him something like ‘come closer’ and he obediently do it.

“Ah, I think there is no need to hide this anymore. Uh, actually, Scott and I are getting married.” Tessa smiles at Marie-France while linking their arms together. She rests her head on his shoulder like it is something that they always did. “Right, Scotty?”

_SCOTTY? WHAT THE FUCK?_

Scott turns his head to take a proper look at Tessa and then blinks, once or twice or maybe more than that. His brain is still processing of what he just heard but he can’t keep his mouth shut for a fucking minute. “Um, yeah?”

“Yes.” Tessa is smiling at him and for the first time in three years, he realizes that his boss is indeed beautiful with those gorgeous green eyes. Not just that, his boss is a fucking actress and he wishes he could give her an Oscar right now for keep maintaining that expression on her face.

Marie-France is not that different with him. She seems surprised and confuses. “Oh wow, that’s very surprising. Isn’t he your secretary?”

“Assistant.” Scott corrects her.

“Executive, uh, assistant secretary. Ah you know, it is just a title. Scott and I were just two people who weren’t meant to fall in love but we did. You know all those late nights at the office, the weekend book fairs and the excessive amounts of time we spend together, something happened. What can I say, you can’t fight love, right, babe?” Tessa says with a chuckle which making this situation more awkward.

“Nope,” Scott mumbles, still feeling numb. _Did she just call him ‘babe’?_

“Well, congratulations. Just make it official as soon as possible.” Marie-France states.

 “We’re on our way to immigration office right now,” Tessa says before pulling Scott to get out of the room Scott follows Tessa back to her office and he can sense that every eye is on them right now. Once they arrive, he quickly closes the door and yells at her. “WHAT THE FUCK, TESSA?”

“Lower your voice and I did it in our favor.” She says calmly, reading a manuscript like nothing is happening.

“I’m not going to marry you.” There is anger in his voice and it makes Tessa flinch and Scott doesn’t really pay attention to her right now.

“They were going to make Meryl as the new chief editor if I deported to the US. You would have lost your job. We will get a quick divorce, so relax.” She puts down the manuscript before snatching her bag. “We should go to immigration office right now.”

 

Scott sits down in the chair while Tessa paces around the room. Scott is growing increasingly more worried about what kind of trouble he can get in for doing this; for helping her. He should never have agreed to do this, but he is terrified of being a failure.  

“I have a bad feeling about this.” He mutters. Of course, he hears Tessa telling him to shut up, even if she is trying hard to make sure Scott doesn’t hear it.

The immigration officer named Robert comes in and takes a seat behind his desk. “I will make this quick, are you both committing fraud to avoid her deportation so she can keep her position as editor in chief?”

“No. That’s ridiculous.” They both say it in sync which is surprising to them. They look at each other with their brows raised before paying attention to Robert again.

“Okay. I will do a scheduled interview and put both of you in a different room. I will ask your family and your co-worker and I will dig on your phone record. If I find that all of this is fake, Ms. Virtue will be deported indefinitely and you, young man, will have committed a felony punishable by a fine of $250,000 and a stay of five years in federal prison. So, what do you want to say?” Robert asks Scott after his long speech with a smirk on his face.

“Umm,” Scott clears his throat trying to keep his cool. “The truth is, Tessa and I… uh Tessa and I are just two people who weren’t supposed to fall in love but we did. We couldn't tell anyone we work with because of the big promotion that I had coming up.” He finishes it while turning his head to her. Tessa can see his little smirk.

“Promotion?” Robert asks.

“We both felt that it would be very inappropriate that I am being promoted to the editor while we were, you know dating.” If a couple of hours ago he wanted to give Tessa an Oscar, right now he wants to give himself one as well.

“Have you told your parents about this secret love story?”

“Mine is dead and I don’t have any siblings.” She says softly. Scott knows all of that and he definitely knows that she doesn’t want to talk about it.

“Are yours dead, Mr. Moir?”

“No, his parents are very much alive. We were going to visit his family house this weekend for his mother’s birthday. We wanted to surprise everyone with this good news.” This time Tessa speaks up confidently.

“And where is this surprise gonna take place?”

Scott keeps his mouth shut for the whole interview and let Tessa answer the question, he is kind of curious about how well she does know him but he won’t raise any expectation.

“At Scott’s parent’s house,” Tessa answers smoothly with a fake sweet smile on her face like she is trained for this kind of situation.

“Where is that located again?” Robert smirks and they both can hear the mock tone of his voice.

“Um…” She scoffs, glancing at Scott beside her. “Why am I the only one who answers the question? Why don’t you answer it, babe? It is your parent’s house after all.”

“Ilderton.” Scott barely squeaks out.

“Ilderton,” Tessa repeats after him.

“Ontario.” Scott finishes.

“Ontariooo?” Tessa repeats while giving Scott a momentary side eye. “Ontario, that is where my Scotty’s from.”

After a long pause, Robert nods his head. “Okay, come back here on Monday at 11 AM for your scheduled interview,” He writes down the date and then gives it to them. “Have fun and don’t forget that I will be checking up on you.”

Once they are outside, Tessa starts to ramble all the things that she needs for the trip to his hometown. “Scott, why don’t you take a note?” She is clearly annoyed that he doesn’t pay attention.

“Tessa, were you not in that room?”

“What?”

Scott just stands there, folding his arms across his chest.

“Oh! About being promoted? That was genius, Scott.” She says with her eyes are glued to her phone.

“I was serious,” Scott tells her plainly.

“No.”

“I was serious and I want you to publish my manuscript twenty thousand copies, first run.”

“No. No deal. I’m not going to do that.”

“Then I quit, you’re screwed.” He says while turning around to leave her. “Bye-bye, Tessa.”

That one works perfectly to snatch her attention to the man who is right now walking away from her. “Scott, Scott! Okay fine. I will do that, right away.” She runs after him and grabs his hands.

Scott turns around and glances down at their hand, the corner of his lips curl up to form a smirk. “Now, ask nicely.”

“What do you mean?” Her gaze drops to their hands and she let it go immediately.

“Ask me to marry you, Tessa. You, on your knee and ask me like you mean it.”

She raises a brow and then drops on both of her knees right there in the middle of a sidewalk. Actually, Scott is kind of surprised that she really does it.

“Oh, I will love this.” He says with the tiniest of playful smirks.

“Scott Patrick Moir. Will you marry me?” She fakes a smile at him. She really hates him right now.

“Hmm, okay. See you tomorrow at the airport, business partner.” He steps back, leaving Tessa kneeling on the sidewalk far behind him while laughing.


	2. The Tale.

Tessa hates flying.

Like absolutely fucking hate it. She is absentmindedly grabbing Scott’s hand and then laces their fingers together. Scott has no problems with that; he knows it because her whole body trembles every time they are up in the sky. Of course, he never had a gut before to ask her until now.

“Why do you hate planes?” Scott asks her when she lets go of their hand and she quickly snatches an in-flight magazine. (Off the record, he is kind of missing it.)

“It’s none of your business, Scott.” Tessa is flipping the magazine disinterestedly.

“They are going to ask, you know.” Beside her, Scott is tapping a binder full of question that will be asked on Monday against his thigh.

She lets out a huff while dropping the magazine on her lap. “Let me see it.” She says, grabbing the binder and begin to skim a few pages. “You know the answer to all of these questions?” She will never tell this to anyone but she is kind of impressed with her executive assistant.

“Scary, eh?” Scott replies like it is nothing. He really thinks it is nothing because it is his job to know everything about her boss, right?

“What am I allergic to?” She just needs to see if Scott truly knows her.

“Chamomile tea,” He answers without missing a beat. “And the full spectrum of human emotion.”

She laughs softly. “Okay, that was funny.”

 _Did he just make her laugh?_ He needs to write this date in a history book.

“Next one is…” she pauses for a second, picking another random question. “This one, whose place do we stay at, yours or mine? Oh, it’s mine, of course. Easy.”

“Why wouldn’t we stay at mine?”

Tessa tears her gaze from the binder towards the man beside her. His lips are parted slightly and… it is adorable. “Because you probably live at some squalid little studio apartment,” Without a doubt, she knows she is being given a dirty look by Scott.

Scott stays silent for the rest of the flight. He only offers his hand to Tessa when they are about to land and she gratefully accepts it. Scott waits for their luggage and decides to ask her about nicknames they have to use. “What do you want me to call you?” He asks without even looking at her, his arms are folded across his chest.

“Just call me what you usually call me.” She answers immediately.

“Boss?” Scott arcs his brow and she feels like the urge to roll her eyes is real.

“Tessa is fine.”

“How about T or Kiddo?” He takes their luggage when they are near him before putting it on their trolley and walks to the exit gate.

“Kiddo?” She snaps her head really fast and she is afraid that her neck might break.

“ I’m two years older than you, for your information. I have a right to call you that.” He smirks playfully at her, and then his face lights up when he sees his brother, Danny and his mother, Alma is waiting for their baby brother and son.

“Scott! Look at you!” Alma literally runs toward his son and hugs him tightly. “My baby!”

“I missed you so much, Mom.” Scott hugs his mom back after kissing her forehead. He smiles at his big brother who is standing there watching them and then Scott invites him to join their hug.

“So, you are finally home and where is your girl?” Danny asks Scott after breaking the hug. He doesn’t notice that Tessa is there all this time, standing awkwardly near the family reunion.

“Uh, Tessa this is my mom, Alma and that is my brother, Danny.” He puts his hand on her lower back and pulls her closer.

Danny has his mouth open, still can’t believe what he is witnessing right now. The Tessa his little brother always complaining is _his girl?_

Tessa takes a spot next to Scott, offering a small smile to Scott’s mom and brother. A hello is all that she can manage and for her surprise (okay, not only hers but also Scott and Danny’s), Alma pulls her into an embrace.

“Welcome to the Moir clan, dear,” Alma says with a genuine smile on her face.

“Ah, yes. Thank you.” Tessa replies and she clearly didn’t expect this at all. She is the reason why Scott didn’t come home for… forever and his mom is being lovely to her is kind of unexpected, isn’t it?

“Now, do you prefer being called Tessa or Satan's Mistress? We have heard all of it by the way.” Tessa, wearing a look of shock and feeling it just as much, glances at each of the three quickly, quite speechless for the first time in a long while. Scott had called her  _Satan’s Mistress_? What else has he told his family?

Danny smirks at his brother who is currently glaring at him. “Oh, he is only kidding,” Alma assures her with a small laugh. “Come on, let’s go home.”

Scott and Danny transfer Scott and Tessa’s luggage to their family car. Scott takes the backseat with Tessa while Danny is taking a role as the driver. The trip to Ilderton is quite fun actually, Tessa is enjoying the small talk but Scott is relatively silent. An hour drive from the airport to Scott’s hometown showcases bits of the small town. The one that catches her attention is “Moir Skate Shop” and the gear on her head start working.

“Scott!” Tessa whispers but still no response. “Scott!” This time she punches his bicep while glaring at him.

“What the…” he rubs his biceps because the pain is still there while trying so hard not to swear in front of his mother.

“You didn’t tell me about the family business, _Honey._ ”

“Oh, he was probably just being modest, dear.” Alma beats him to answer that question.

Ten minutes later they pull up in front of a large house. Danny helps Scott to bring the luggage while Tessa is staring at his house longer than it should be. “You never told me you were rich.”

“It’s because I’m not. My parents, well, yeah they are.” Scott shrugs.

“That’s something that rich people say.” Tessa makes a noise of disgust.

They turn their head to a middle-aged man who is shouting from the next door. “Welcome home, Scott!”

“Oh hey, yeah! Thanks!” Scott is trying to hide his confusion by shouting back and offering him a small wave. “Mom, don’t say that you told the whole town that I’m coming back home.”

Alma just raises her hands in surrender manner like she doesn’t know anything. Danny claps Scott’s back playfully. “She didn’t tell the whole town, just arranged a small welcome home party.”

“A small party? Great.” Scott rolls his eyes. Small isn’t exactly a word to describe a party that his mom arranged, he learns it since he was a ten years old boy.

“Just our closest friends and family,” Alma reassures her son. (Yeah, it’s basically the whole town.)

“All of them are excited to meet you, Tess.” Danny’s eyes hold Tessa’s and he wiggles his brows.

Stepping through the front door is surreal, in a way. Scott notices the decorative banner that reads  _WELCOME HOME, SCOTT!_ in big, colorful letters. The air is scented with various foods and the rooms are crowded with people, all of whom Scott apparently knows. This is not what Tessa believed he was getting herself into. She hears, “Scott, it’s good to see you again,” and “Tessa, it’s nice to finally meet you,” a lot and she loses count.

“Scott, when are we going to announce _it_?” She emphasizes the word it so he can actually understand what she meant.

“I’ll pick the right moment.” It’s all that he can say before taking a sip of his drink.

 “Scott, hi!”

Here we go again as Tessa thinks to herself, ready to put a fake smile on the person who greets them.

“Hi, Mrs. Lee.” Scott leans in to hug the old lady.

“You must be Tessa and oh, dear, you are so beautiful. Scott is lucky.” Mrs. Lee pulls the younger woman into a tight hug while Scott is biting inside of his cheeks to prevent laughing too hard.

  _Lucky? Yeah sure._

Tessa stands there awkwardly, doesn’t have any ideas what she should do next so she decides to hug the older woman back and mumbles something like ‘thank you’ and ‘no, I’m the lucky one.’

When the three of them are talking about life at a publishing company, Scott feels like someone is tapping his right shoulder. He turns around and a beautiful woman stands in front of him with a smile on her face.

“Hi, Scott.” The woman says warmly, stepping into his personal space and then hugs him.

“Oh god, Kaitlyn. I didn’t know you were here.” Scott chuckles and hugs her back.

“I have to refill my cup. See you later, Tessa.” Mrs. Lee leaves Tessa alone with Scott and the mysterious woman (to her she is still mysterious) that are still talking like she is not there. Somehow, the way Scott’s hazel eyes are directed to that woman—Kaitlyn? —and his boyish smile make Tessa feel twitchy (not to mention that the way they hug each other like it’s something natural between them). It’s like Kaitlyn can pick up on it, too, because she chooses that moment to acknowledge her, her bright red lips twisting into a pleasant smile. She offers her hand and gives her a very firm shake.

“Hi. Tessa, right? I’m Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn Lawes to be exact because there is another Kaitlyn.” She grins while pointing at someone behind Tessa with her chin. Tessa turns around and sees a blonde woman that currently engaged in conversation with a dark-haired man.

“Okay, so I don’t have to introduce you to my fiancée anymore.” Scott chuckles and he moves his arms to wrap around Tessa’s shoulders.

Another master plan by Mr. Scott Moir because he successfully got every attention on that room to them. Tessa watches Kaitlyn’s mouth drops.

“Fiancée?” Kaitlyn asks them carefully like maybe she heard it wrong.

“Yeah. We are engaged.” Scott nods and a smile never leaves his handsome face.

“Oh shit! Congratulations!” Tessa and Scott both know that Kaitlyn is trying to sound genuine but kind of failed. Scott tears his gaze from Kaitlyn to Tessa and then to his family. He feels guilty, especially when he watches his mom is crying (of happiness of course but still) after they announced it. Danny just raises his cup, confusion is still there on his face but Scott decides to ignore it.

Everything is fine; everyone comes to them to say congratulations until someone yells at them to tell the story about how he was fucking purpose to her.

They haven’t discussed this.  _Why_  haven’t they discussed this?

Tessa looks to Scott, trying not to seem too lost or afraid, and isn’t even comforted by the matching expression she sees on his face. They both look to Alma, who’s seated comfortably on the couch beside Danny, a twinkle in her eye.

“I’d love to hear the story, Scotty,” Alma says, her expression full of hope. “Would you tell us?

“Oh…” Tessa trails. She hopes Scott has the guts to decline because he certainly doesn’t.

And of course, Scott is being a little shit.

“Yeah, Tessa loves to tell our story,” He says, grinning like an idiot while his hand squeezes her shoulder.

 _Fuck you, Scott Moir._ Tessa thinks to herself.

“Well, where do I begin?” She pauses a few seconds to make a short fiction on her head. “It was on our first anniversary. We were about to celebrate our first it and I knew he wanted to ask me to marry him, but he was just  _scared_ , like a little baby bird,” She chances a glance at Scott, who clearly does not like where this is headed. “So, I started leaving hints, you know, hoping, because I knew he wouldn’t have the guts to ask, but…”

 “That’s not exactly how it went,” Scott interrupts her.

Tessa raises a brow. “No?”

“Uh, I knew you were dropping a few hints, T.” Everyone laughs and Tessa bites her tongue. “What I was worried about was that she’d find this little box–”

“I did find it. Scott, you know, is terrible at hiding things especially from me,” She shots a smug smile at him. “I opened the box and out popped all of this confetti. I really don’t know how he got that to work, but Scott’s nothing if not creative. And when I pulled out all those pieces of paper, I found the most beautiful, big –”

“Fat nothing,” Scott says quickly. “No ring.”

Tessa glares, but follows his lead with a tight nod and a hum of, “No ring.”

“Instead, underneath all that crap was a piece of paper with the address of a rink and a date and time.”

 _A rink?_ Tessa raises a brow at him but he ignores it.

“I went to the rink quickly as I could; I thought he was going to meet someone else.” Tessa is back to her character again.

 

“ _What_?” Scott yelps.

Tessa nods. “It was a really rough time for me. I mean, I love Scott so much, and to think…” she shakes her head and exhales deeply, playing it up now that she knows they’re both trying to trip each other. “So I opened the door but it was already unlocked, and I saw him.”

“Standing—”

“ _Kneeling_ —”

“Like a man—”

“On the ice with heart-shaped roses petals around him,” Scott’s blush is so sweet, Tessa can’t stop herself. “Your son,” she coos to Alma, eyes alight with the way she touches her chest absently, “is the sweetest man I’ve ever met. There were tears in his hazel eyes when he said to me –”

“’Tessa, will you marry me?’ And she said, ‘Yes,’ and that was that.” Scott finishes the tale. “Is anyone hungry?”

“Oh Scotty, I’m so proud of you,” Alma says with tears pooling in her eyes.

And then out of nowhere, Scott hears a high pitched voice that he is very similar say, “Uncle Scotty, you should kiss her!”

They both look down at a seven years old girl who sits beside Danny. Scott notices Danny is flashing him an evil’s smile.

 _Ha. Nice job, Dan._ He thinks to himself while glaring at his brother. 

“Oh, Charlotte…” He says, trying to explain a concept of privacy to his niece but he hasn’t even started and everyone begins to chant, including his own mother.

“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!”

Scott looks at Tessa who is obviously uncomfortable and he feels bad for her but apparently, Scott thinks it is his turn to embarrass Tessa, because he just leans over and plants a quick kiss on her lips, like it was nothing, like they kiss every single day.

“A real kiss,” someone demands.

Still in shock of what he just did, Tessa wants to argue that a kiss is a kiss, but Scott grabs her around the waist and leans in. Tessa feels Scott’s warm breath against her lips before his lips actually touch, and this time the kiss is slow and… sweet. Scott’s eyes are closed, so Tessa closes hers, and it is quick for Tessa to get into it, to feel it, to appreciate it.

Scott feels butterflies in his stomach, which is odd. Maybe it is that he hasn’t kissed someone in too long—no, it was like a week ago when he was drunk at a bar near his flat—maybe it was the fake romantic story he’d just told. Maybe it was the alcohol (again). Or maybe—

Is it possible that it has been Tessa? Tessa’s lips on his? Does he have butterflies in his stomach for her boss?

When they parted, they both can’t help but lick their respective lips as everyone clapped.

He likes it. The kiss. It is nice. Tessa’s lips were plump and soft, unsurprisingly.

He doesn’t have any ideas that Tessa also feels the same.

***

The party doesn’t last much longer after that, luckily. When everyone starts to leave, Alma leads Scott and Tessa upstairs to Scott’s childhood bedroom. The moment they step into the room, everything clicks on Tessa’s mind. There are a lot of pictures of Scott winning ice dancing competition, start from when he was a kid—eight or nine if she has to guess—until his pre-teens. That’s why their ‘proposal’ has taken place at a rink. She is surprised that Scott never told her about him being an ice dancer when he was a kid.

 Tessa tears her gaze toward the giant glass door. “Wow, it’s beautiful.” She comments as soon as she steps into the balcony and her eyes sweep over the spacious area.

Scott steps around her, checking the space out like it’s new to him, too. “Nice view, too.” He can see a pool directly below as well.

“Okay, take a rest both of you,” Alma says and walks toward the exit door but quickly turns her direction as if she remembers something. “By the way, Scotty, your aunt needs your help on our rink tomorrow, can you help her?”

Tessa turns her head to Alma and frowns. _Our rink? They have their own rink?_

“Okay,” Scott replies, there is a fond smile on his face and his voice is soft.

Alma waves them goodbye and closes the door.

They stay silent after that, Tessa wants to ask about the rink but she keeps her mouth shut. She changes into a short and a black tank top—which is she is kind of regret it because she thought they would stay at a hotel and she was going to sleep on her own room—and removes her makeup before burying herself under the covers. Scott knows that they won’t share the bed so he sets a couple of pillows and a blanket on the floor. Actually, Tessa feels a little bad for him about the prospect of sleeping on the floor because god knows how it’s going to hurt his back and shoulders in the morning.

She thinks that his family is great. His mom is lovely and his brothers (Yeah brothers, she heard it at the party that Charlie, another Scott’s older brother couldn’t make it because his plane delayed until tomorrow) are like the brothers in general. She doesn’t realize that she voices it out loud until Scott shifting on the floor.

“Thank you.” He says softly and she can hear a smile in his voice. “You never tell me about, uh, you know…” He trails. He knows it is a sensitive subject for her but for the sake of their fake romantic story; he has to know about it. Not only that but also all about her life.

And then there is an uncomfortable silence.

“I- I can’t tell you that now, Scott,” She signs. “Good night, Scott.” Tessa finally says before closing her eyes.

“Good night, T.” He replies and immediately banging his head against a brick wall because of the slip-up. That night, he can’t sleep until 3 AM because a lot of things are running on his mind and mostly it’s all about the woman who is sleeping peacefully on his bed.  


End file.
